- US Regime Tells French, German Regimes to Release Diesel Stocks or Face US Export Ban, Sources Say
Source: US News & World Report
“The Trump administration has told Germany and France to draw down emergency diesel inventories to help to ease global fuel prices or face a potential US diesel export ban, said three people close to the discussions. The warning marks an escalation of pressure on Europe as US President Donald Trump considers a potential diesel export ban to bring down US fuel prices ahead of November’s midterm elections.” (10/01/26)
- Trump regime tries to buy votes with Obamacare refund checks in 30 states
Source: Fox News
“The Trump administration is issuing refund checks to about 1 million Americans, accompanied by a personal letter from President Donald Trump, to people the administration says were overcharged for Obamacare. An administration official told Fox News Digital that the U.S. Treasury began issuing $500 refund checks to more than 950,000 Americans across 30 states. Each refund comes with a letter from Trump himself, a copy of which was obtained by Fox News Digital. ‘For years, the Biden administration overcharged you to fund the operation of HealthCare.gov,’ the letter says. ‘That money belongs to hard-working Americans, not the Government, and now I’m returning it to you!'” (10/01/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-handing-1-million-americans-obamacare-refund-checks-30-states
- Pentagon excludes key allies from NATO meeting
Source: Politico
“The Trump administration is excluding several major allies from a gathering of NATO members next month — after previous threats to deploy a ‘naughty and nice list’ against governments that have run afoul of the president’s priorities. The planned meeting in Poland, which Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby has spearheaded, is essentially a working group focused on NATO’s future, according to six diplomats familiar with the planning. But many of the countries who didn’t receive an invite — such as the United Kingdom, France and the Baltic countries — are big defense spenders and play key roles in the alliance, leaving their diplomats wondering why they’re being frozen out.” (09/30/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/30/trump-nato-allies-left-out-01100310
- 10-year US Treasury yield hits highest level since 2002 as global bond rout gathers pace
Source: CNBC
“U.S. Treasury yields hit their highest level in more than two decades on Thursday as a global bond sell-off deepened. The 10-year Treasury yield breached a level last seen in April 2002, rising 4 basis points to 5.3338%, according to LSEG data. The figure is key to rates for mortgage borrowing, auto loans and credit card debt. … Government borrowing costs rose around the world on Thursday, continuing a months-long trend as investors express concerns over a lack of political action to tackle fiscal deficits, while inflation remains sticky and interest rates rise.” (10/01/26)
- AZ: SCOTUS denies state’s bid to delay start of takeover of healthcare in state prisons
Source: SFGate
“The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an eleventh-hour bid by the state of Arizona to block the upcoming start of a court-ordered takeover of healthcare operations in its prisons after the state was found to have provided constitutionally inadequate care to incarcerated people and dragged its feet for over a decade in making required improvements. The state’s request to delay the start date was denied Thursday by Justice Elena Kagan, leaving an outside corrections professional to take over healthcare management for 25,000 incarcerated people on Oct. 19. Arizona had asked the courts to delay the start date while it appealed both the takeover decision and the appointment of former Ohio corrections director Annette Chambers-Smith as the leader of the effort.” (10/01/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/supreme-court-denies-arizona-s-bid-to-delay-22458254.php
- OpenAI ‘reviewing’ report of failed hacking attempt against Canadian regime
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“OpenAI has confirmed that it is reviewing a report of a failed hacking attempt against a Canadian government body in the latest incident to highlight cybersecurity concerns about artificial intelligence. The AI giant said on Wednesday that it was reviewing the alleged cyberattack against Canada’s national archives agency and had provided an initial briefing to Canadian officials. … The attempted hacking, if confirmed, would be the first publicly known case of an AI-led cyberattack against Canada’s government, following a series of incidents of rogue agents targeting agencies in the United States and Australia.” (10/01/26)
- Judge approves Paramount Skydance settlement
Source: United Press International
“A federal judge approved a Paramount Skydance antitrust settlement with California and other states Wednesday, allowing the company’s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery to move forward. The settlement, reached last week, resolves a lawsuit that 12 states’ attorneys general brought against the company. The lawsuit argued that the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery would give the company too much control of the market.” (09/30/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/09/30/paramount-settlement-approved/4311790809689/
- Publisher’s Note: You Know What This Is About
Hey, everyone …
Yes, it’s “year-end fundraiser” time again. We keep our appeals limited to the occasional “we’re reader-supported” reminder nine months out of the year, but starting each October 1 we set a goal and hammer you every dang day with that goal until we make it.
The bare bones:
1) You can, and should, support the freedom movement’s daily newspaper at:
https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd
2) Our goal this year is $5,503, and reader GL has pledged to “match funds” for half of that, meaning we only need to raise $2,751.50 from the rest of our readers!
3) Once we’ve reached the goal, we’ll stop talking about money ENTIRELY for the rest of the year, and MOSTLY for the first nine months of NEXT year.
As for trivial asides:
Why $5,503? Well, last year it was $5,501. I didn’t want to raise the goal TOO much because I know inflation hits you as hard as it hits us, so I just escalated to the next prime number (I have a thing about prime numbers).
How long have we been doing this? As Rational Review News Digest, for 24 years as of this coming December 23. As Freedom News Daily, since 1994. And before that was Libernet, dating to 1991, making us the libertarian movement’s oldest and longest-surviving daily Internet news and commentary roundup.
So, again: Please support us, based on your assessment of how much value you find in our work, at …
https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd
… and have a great day!
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily - TN: Prisoner survives two attempts by state employees to kill her
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Christa Pike, convicted of murdering a classmate three decades ago, has survived Tennessee’s effort to [kill] her by means of lethal injection, prison officials said. Her lawyers said late on Wednesday that she had been taken away from the prison in an ambulance and was being treated at a hospital, but they said they had not been told about her condition. Officials gave Pike two doses of pentobarbital, her lawyers said in court filings. Journalists who witnessed the attempted [killing] described snoring, loud exhales, gasps and complaints from Pike about pain, as well as her kicking her feet so often that she knocked off the sheets laid over her, according to NBC News. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said in a statement that he has ordered ‘a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred’ and that the remaining scheduled [prisoner killing] will not take place this year.” (10/01/26)
- Ukraine: Russian strikes kill seven in biggest energy attack in months
Source: The Guardian
“Russia has unleashed a widely anticipated air campaign against Ukraine’s energy grid, hitting power facilities and infrastructure around Kyiv and other regions in the heaviest combined attack on energy sites in months. The strikes on Wednesday, in which Ukrainian officials said seven people were killed, came after days of intensifying drone barrages primarily on the capital, a prelude to what many Ukrainians expect to be a winter of attacks intended to plunge cities into cold and darkness while Ukraine is short of air defences. State power grid operator Ukrenergo said it had imposed emergency power cuts as a result of the attack in Kyiv and three surrounding regions – the first time such a measure had been imposed in the capital since the spring.” (10/01/26)
- CA: New law bans companies from relying on AI to fire workers
Source: Engadget
“California has enacted new legislation to protect workers from AI-powered layoffs and surveillance, governor Gavin Newsom announced. The new laws are mostly aimed at companies using AI to initiate job cuts or monitor employees, not about harnessing the tech to replace workers. However, it’s some of the first legislation in the nation that gives employees rights [sic] about how AI can be deployed in the workplace. … Divided into multiple bills, the new law prohibits employers from only relying on AI when making a disciplinary action or termination decision, and forces companies to provide transparency if any mass layoff, relocation or termination is caused by an AI system. It also protects against the use of surveillance tools in workplace bathrooms and prohibits lawyers from ‘fully handing over core legal work’ like drafting briefs, to AI.” (10/01/26)
https://www.engadget.com/2274224/california-law-bans-companies-from-relying-on-ai-to-fire-workers/
- Afghanistan: Pakistani regime launches fresh airstrikes
Source: Yahoo! News
“Pakistan has launched fresh airstrikes in Afghanistan, targeting the alleged hideouts of Islamist militants blamed for deadly cross-border attacks, officials said on Thursday. At least two hideouts were targeted in the provinces of Helmand and Kunar in early morning airstrikes, Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said. At least 22 militants were killed and their arms and ammunition were destroyed, Tarar said in a statement. Afghanistan’s Taliban government, however, said homes were hit in the strikes, killing nine civilians, including women and children.” (10/01/26)
- US Senate Democrats block bill restricting lawmakers from trading stocks
Source: The Hill
“Senate Democrats on Wednesday blocked a bill sponsored by vulnerable GOP incumbent Sen. Pete Ricketts (Neb.) to restrict members of Congress from buying new stocks of publicly traded companies, arguing the legislation didn’t go far enough to crack down on possible corruption. The Stop Insider Trading Act failed by a vote of 53-47. No Democrat voted in support of the measure. It needed 60 votes to advance on the Senate floor. Ricketts, who is facing a competitive race in Nebraska, argued before the vote that his bill would ‘ban congressional insider trading’ and touted it as a ‘commonsense’ reform that ‘we need to pass.’ It passed the House in July by a vote of 232-198 with the support of 13 Democrats.” (09/30/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/6120528-senate-blocks-gop-stock-bill
- AZ: Trump’s border wall construction destroys ancient geoglyph
Source: Yahoo! News
“Before Stonehenge was raised, before Egypt’s first pyramid broke ground, before the Nazca people drew their famous lines across the Peruvian desert, someone in what is now southern Arizona shaped a 272-foot fish into the earth. On April 23, 2026, a border-wall contractor drove heavy equipment across it. Conservation advocates describe the damage as irreparable. … The Las Playas Intaglio sits inside the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, west of Ajo, Arizona. A geoglyph is an image made by scraping or arranging the desert surface; this one, shaped like a fish, stretches roughly 272 feet in length. … Earlier estimates placed the carving at roughly 1,000 years old. Archaeologists David S. Whitley and geologist Ronald I. Dorn …. revised that estimate dramatically. Their findings, published in The SAA Archaeological Record in September 2026, date the intaglio conservatively at 6,500 to 7,300 years old, with the possibility it is closer to 7,500 years old.” (09/30/26)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/trump-border-wall-construction-destroys-151232210.html
- Pledge signed by Trump and top AI leaders misspells the United States
Source: TechCrunch
“On Tuesday, President Donald Trump and top AI leaders announced a signed pledge called a ‘Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibilities’ — a voluntary promise to implement more controls and safety measures as the rapid development of artificial intelligence continues. But there seems to be a catch — namely that the ‘United States’ was misspelled as ‘Unites States’ in a photo of the signed agreement the President shared to Truth Social. … Via an executive order, the President is also mandating that all government departments and agencies now change their phrasing from ‘artificial intelligence’ to ‘superintelligence’ or ‘SI.'” (09/30/26)
- UK: Man City guilty of ‘sham’ sponsorship deals after decade of English soccer dominance
Source: CNBC
“English soccer club Manchester City has been found guilty of breaking financial rules, throwing the fate of one of the sport’s most successful teams into jeopardy. An independent commission, charged to investigate 115 charges, found the soccer club arranged what it described as ‘sham’ accounts with several commercial partners to hide an additional funding stream of around $1 billion. The club has repeatedly topped English’s soccer’s top division, the Premier League, since being acquired by the private investment vehicle of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE deputy prime minister and a member of the royal family in Abu Dhabi, in 2008.” (09/30/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/30/manchester-city-guilty-premier-league-financial-rules.html
- TN: State killing of prisoner halted, shortly before it was due to happen
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“The execution of US murderer Christa Pike has been halted, just over an hour before it was due to happen. Pike, 50, has been awaiting execution since she was convicted and sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer. In their ruling on Wednesday, judges from the Sixth Circuit Appeals court said they needed more time to consider the arguments in Pike’s case. It is unclear how long the pause will last. This latest ruling comes after the Supreme Court denied a reprieve and the Tennessee governor declined to grant Pike’s request for clemency earlier this week. Her lawyers said that for years, the state of Tennessee argued in court that Pike had lied about being sexually abused as a child. But at a recent hearing about her execution method, the State said it does not dispute she suffered sexual abuse and rape.” (09/30/26)
- NY: Judge Blocks Rent-Setting Software Ban
Source: US News & World Report
“A federal judge in Manhattan blocked New York state from enforcing a first-of-its-kind law prohibiting landlords and real estate industry professionals from using algorithmic pricing tools to set, and potentially inflate, residential rents. US District Judge Valerie Caproni issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday in favor of RealPage, a software provider owned by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, which said the law violated its First Amendment free speech rights by restricting use of its software’s pricing recommendations. … Richardson, Texas-based RealPage sued two days after reaching a settlement with the US Department of Justice and agreeing to restrict its algorithmic software from using non-public data from competitors to generate price recommendations.” (09/30/26)
- DOJ files complaint against MN judges over immigration enforcement surge comments
Source: SFGate
“The Department of Justice filed a complaint Wednesday against federal judges in Minnesota over their remarks to the media related to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge. The complaint escalates the department’s battle with the federal judiciary, which has halted administration priorities, dismissed high-profile prosecutions and accused government lawyers in some cases of failing to comply with court orders. The department is demanding that the judges recuse themselves from all criminal or civil cases involving the Department of Homeland Security, Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters, because of what he described as ‘obvious bias they have shown’ in recent remarks to The New York Times. At issue is a September article in which seven federal judges in Minnesota — nominated by Democrats and Republican presidents — spoke on the record about their experience dealing with a flood of cases during last winter’s immigration crackdown that led to thousands of arrests.” (09/30/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/justice-department-files-complaint-against-judges-22456559.php
- Romania: Political crisis deepens as parliament rejects PM nominee
Source: Politico
“Romania’s parliament rejected Siegfried Mureșan’s attempt to form a government Wednesday, deepening a crisis that began when the coalition collapsed in May. President Nicușor Dan, an independent moderate, proposed MEP Mureșan for the job — but lawmakers in Bucharest refused to back his candidacy in a crunch vote Wednesday. It is the second time parliament has formally voted down Dan’s nominee, and under Romania’s constitution that means a snap election is now a possibility. But Dan does not want to dissolve parliament for a national vote that would likely benefit the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party, which is currently ahead in the polls. He wants the feuding political leaders to put aside their differences and make a deal to support a new coalition.” (09/30/26)
- Just Say Uncool
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob“Something curious has happened to the young, a new government report suggests: ‘the number of high school students who use marijuana has decreased by almost half — 44 percent — since states started enacting adult-use legalization.’ … a standard argument against marijuana legalization: If marijuana is readily available, kids will increase usage of the ‘pernicious weed.’ Hasn’t happened! But why?” (10/01/26)
- The lynch mob is out for the “Cornell 7”, proving we’ve learned nothing from past injustices
Source: New York Post
by Miranda Devine“The ‘Cornell 7’ gang rape case is descending into the same lynch-mob hysteria as the notorious Duke lacrosse or ‘mattress girl’ hoaxes of old — only with social media making everything worse. It seems we have learned nothing from past injustices. A young woman who goes by ‘Jane Doe’ has filed a civil lawsuit two years after she alleged she was gang-raped by seven men in a sordid, drug-fueled sexual encounter at the Chi Phi fraternity house at the elite Cornell University, where she was a student at the time. Predictably, the fraternity brothers have been judged guilty in the court of man-hating public opinion. Yet, according to Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, citing Doe’s sworn statement to campus investigators in November 2024, she ‘described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious and consensual’. When she told the young men to stop, they did.” (09/30/26)
- For Ukrainians, a Bad Peace Beats a Worsening War
Source: The American Conservative
by Iuliia Mendel“It is time to talk about victory in the Russia–Ukraine War. Politicians and the media regularly use the word, yet it has come to signify nothing. In Ukraine, a political battle is breaking out over which narrative of victory will be accepted by the people. For some, a 10-year-old dancer with a prosthetic leg is a living advertisement for Ukraine’s ‘unbreakability.’ But a growing number of Ukrainians are done participating in that story. Incessant preaching about ‘resilience’ while the situation on the ground only worsens has exhausted their patience.” (10/01/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/for-ukrainians-a-bad-peace-beats-a-worsening-war/
- Genocide Hypocrites
Source: American Greatness
by Victor Davis Hanson“On October 7, 2023, Hamas killers slaughtered 1,200 people, more than two-thirds of them civilians, inside Israel. For the ensuing three weeks, they refused Israel’s demands to turn over the 251 hostages and to surrender the architects of the massacre. No matter; within a day of the attacks, when Hamas gunmen were still fighting Israeli troops on Israeli soil, the American Left was already screaming ‘genocide!’ They did not mean Hamas’s intended genocide of Jews, a foretaste of which was seen when it launched a surprise invasion force of more than 4,000 terrorists some 15 miles into Israel. The killers were accompanied by some 2,000 ‘innocent’ Gazan ‘civilians’. All were bent on looting, murder, rape, torture, and hostage-taking of the defenseless. Nor did the ‘genocide’ chorus refer to the more than 13,000 rockets, missiles, and drones launched from Gaza after October 7 that predominantly targeted Israeli civilian neighborhoods.” (10/01/26)
- They aren’t uniformed, but these US companies are fighting for Ukraine
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Ted Snider“Microsoft joins a host of other ideologically-driven tech defenders of Kviv. Some, like Palantir, are doing so while expanding profit margins.” (10/01/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-tech-companies-in-ukraine/
- Avoid the unsafe, dark places
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal“My desire to feel safe is why you won’t find me wandering drunk down the middle of the highway on a moonless night. Or any other time. It’s smart to adapt your own behavior for the sake of your safety. What I won’t be doing is looking for ways to control you and violate your liberty so I can feel safe. I know violating people’s rights won’t make me safe. It would also be wrong. And weak. Government, as the primary violator of rights, can’t make you safe.” (09/30/26)
- Improving Species Recovery Act, Explained
Source: Property and Environment Research Center
by McLean Albritton“More than 50 years after the ESA’s passage, the statute has succeeded in one important respect—99 percent of listed species have avoided extinction. But recovery, the ESA’s ultimate goal, has lagged far behind. Just 3 percent of listed species have recovered. And, according to PERC research, 96% of the recoveries federal agencies predicted have not happened. The sobering recovery numbers are a call to action for reforms to make the law work better.” (09/30/26)
https://www.perc.org/2026/09/30/improving-species-recovery-act-explained/
- Trump Is Reshaping IRS Rules to Defund Minority Programs and Empower Churches
Source: The UnPopulist
by Robert Tracinski“His motto is to use state power against his enemies and help his friends in the nonprofit world.” (09/30/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/trump-is-reshaping-irs-rules-to-defund
- Being Forcefully Pro-Palestine Weeds The Terrible People Out Of Your Life
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“Being forcefully pro-Palestine is the most efficient way to weed all the worst people out of your life. It takes care of them all. Zionists. Islamophobes. Apathetic narcissists. Unthinking herd-minded right wing ideologues. Abuser-enabling ‘both sides’ moral cowards. Emotionally stunted man-babies who turn every challenging conversation into an ‘allow me to play devil’s advocate’ mental exercise to avoid feeling normal human feelings. Leaned-back, too-cool-for-the-current-thing victims of western meta-irony brain rot. It’s like spraying yourself with asshole repellant. Supporting Palestine doesn’t automatically make you a good person; opposing genocide and apartheid is just the basic bare-minimum position we’re all morally obligated to take. But supporting Israel against the Palestinians absolutely does automatically make you a bad person.” (10/01/26)
- Nikole Hannah-Jones Fails the Test
Source: Independent Institute
by Brady Leonard“Her ideology failed her own daughter, and she has apparently learned nothing.” (09/30/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/09/30/nikole-hannah-jones/
- What happened? Or rather, what did NOT happen?
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton“On 31 January 2025, just a few days after The Donald took office for his second term and nominated his various cabinet officers, this graphic was published by some MAGA/MAHA types. People worried about the overall state of ‘health care’ (read, the Medical Industrial Complex) in the States, and hoping, praying, even expecting some things to start to improve. Looking back nearly two years, how many of these threats to human health and life have really, REALLY been addressed?” (09/30/26)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/09/30/what-happened-or-rather-what-did-not-happen/
- Time on Task
Source: The American Prospect
by Zachary Groz“The Trump administration has spent the past two years asserting broad executive powers and privileges with little historical precedent: imposing tariffs, executing mass deportations, deploying the National Guard in American cities, unilaterally halting permitted clean-energy development, sanctioning law firms and universities, firing civil servants and watchdogs, removing foreign heads of state, calling in drone strikes on fishing boats, withholding grants to states and nongovernmental agencies, bending banking rules, brokering critical minerals deals, and speeding up federal contracting, with many of these enriching the president’s family and their circle. Some orders have been brazen and public enough to generate blowback in court. But the infrastructure underlying them has remained in place. In fact, it’s continued to grow through a little-scrutinized mechanism of the federal government: the interagency task force.” (10/01/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/10/01/oct-2026-time-on-task-trump-law-enforcement/
- The Ark and the Deluge: The Unfurling of Equality in World History
Source: Liberal Currents
by Guillaume AW Attia“Democracy for Tocqueville meant many things, but first and foremost it meant the equalization of social conditions. To say that the world was undergoing a ‘democratic revolution’ was to say that the old hierarchies of power based on birth and ancestral status were dissolving and more undutiful relations were taking their place. He described this visible process of change as the ‘gradual unfurling of equality,’ a slow unraveling of the layers of dogmatic control in human societies, that had progressed over many centuries, ‘surmounting all obstacles, and which is still advancing today amid the ruins it has caused’ in Europe.” (09/30/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-ark-and-the-deluge-the-unfurling-of-equality-in-world-history/
- Maintaining Journalistic Integrity Through Mutualization
Source: Independent Institute
by Robert E Wright“For 30 years, the internet has stripped middlemen out of the news business. Classified ads fled to Craigslist, readers fled to search engines and social media, and writers fled to Substack and like platforms. The history of journalism reveals the next step and how to avoid potential pitfalls. As in finance, the disintermediation of journalism has mostly been good for customers, journalists, and the pursuit of Truth. Readers get more solid news, and writers do not have to submit to corporate pressures to say X (yay for vaccines!), or not say Y (yay for Ivermectin!). Disintermediation has a cost, though, and the one- and two-person nano-journalism shops pay it every month.” (09/30/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/09/30/journalistic-integrity-mutualization/
- Friedrich Hayek Predicted Donald Trump
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Angel Monaco“The recent escalations in Donald Trump’s rhetoric and imagery have reignited intense debate among clinical psychologists and political analysts regarding the mental framework of such leadership. At the core of Trump’s actions is a pattern of grandiosity, characterized by an inflated sense of self-importance and a need for constant admiration. … So how did the United States end up with Donald Trump as its leader? From the perspective of economist Friedrich Hayek and the Austrian School, certain factors create a movement that makes the trade-off for a leader like Trump feel not only rational but necessary.” (09/30/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/friedrich-hayek-predicted-donald-trump
- The 1787 Constitution as Counterrevolution: America’s Thermidorian Reaction
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Ryan McMaken“Throughout much of the nineteenth century, and into the twentieth, the American Revolution had often been framed according to the ‘neo-whig’ narrative in which the American Revolution was very non-radical, and represented a sort of conservative revolution which, because of its lack of radicalism, differed from virtually every other revolution in the past several centuries. This narrative was revived and promoted by conservatives in the 1950s who sought, as a Cold War measure, to discourage revolution of all types, and to foster greater support for the American regime. Yet, some historians have argued otherwise, including Rothbard. … Russian historian Aleksandr Fursenko explored the debate over whether or not the new Constitution of 1787 was in line with ‘the Spirit of ‘76’ or if it represented a counterrevolution against the ideology behind the Declaration of Independence.” (09/30/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/1787-constitution-counterrevolution-americas-thermidorian-reaction
- Zoning and the American Way
Source: Law & Liberty
by Michael C Munger“Afriend of mine was once mayor of a small city, about forty thousand souls. A local landowner petitioned to develop single-family homes on a parcel he owned, about 20 acres. It was ‘ranch land,’ given over to meadows with a few copses of trees. Lovely place. When the hearing was held over this development, there was a surprise waiting: all six neighbors showed up to insist, vociferously, that the rancher must not be allowed to develop the land. They said they preferred the meadows and trees. I don’t doubt they were telling the truth. Now, it might seem there is a striking disconnect here, a tension between American attitudes toward private property and a ‘right’ to use public shouting to dictate how other people can use their property. If those six people really valued the land as scenery, they could have bought it.” (09/30/26)
- Why a Hegseth Impeachment Terrifies the GOP
Source: The American Conservative
by Luke Nicastro“In 1626, England’s Parliament sought to impeach the Duke of Buckingham, a widely despised advisor to King Charles I. The king moved quickly to shield his favorite; on hearing the news, he said curtly that Parliament would sit ‘not a minute’ more and gave orders for its immediate dissolution. Exactly four centuries later, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) has taken a page from the Stuart playbook, dismissing our own legislature (or at least, its lower chamber) to protect an unpopular official. … even an unsuccessful impeachment measure would be politically embarrassing, both for Johnson and the White House. But there may be another reason the GOP establishment went to such lengths to scuttle the vote. Already Democrats are salivating over the prospect of wielding state power against their political enemies, should they regain power.” (09/30/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/why-a-hegseth-impeachment-terrifies-the-gop/
- How Democrats learned to stop worrying about gender politics
Source: Semafor
by David Weigel“As they prepared for Republicans to drop another billion dollars of ads on their heads this summer, Democrats passed around fresh advice on gender politics. A memo from the Transgender Freedom Alliance, based on focus groups and polling in battleground states, warned that Democrats lost ground if they ignored anti-trans attacks — ubiquitous GOP ads about ‘boys in girls’ sports’ and ‘child sex changes.’ The group advised Democrats to respond, then accuse Republicans of being ‘focused on transgender people instead of helping you.’ Right now, as they compete for states that Trump won by double digits, Democrats are feeling great about that guidance.” (09/30/26)
- Innovation’s secret sauce: Less fear, more forgiveness
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff“On Monday, the largest rocket ever built reached low earth orbit (about 170 miles above Earth’s surface) for the first time. That same day, back on terra firma, a massive, custom-built machine that can bore 280 feet below the surface was ceremonially switched on to launch an ambitious tunneling project. Despite an engine failure and a shortened mission time frame, SpaceX’s Starship successfully launched 26 satellites. The company’s next challenge will be returning the rocket back to its launch area in Texas. On the East Coast, meanwhile, the $16 billion Hudson Gateway project to build two new rail tunnels linking New Jersey and Manhattan has faced its share of technical and funding challenges. When completed, it will supplement the under-river railway links that were a technological marvel in their time – more than a century ago.” (09/29/26)
- Was Frederick Douglass a free speech absolutist?
Source: Expression
by Jacob Mchangama“He called free speech ‘the dread of tyrants’ and a ‘sacred right.’ The Civil War tested that principle. Did it extend even to supporters of the Confederacy?” (09/30/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/was-frederick-douglass-a-free-speech
- Democracy Belongs on the List
Source: Liberalism.org
by Matt Zwolinski“Ask someone what a classical liberal believes, and you’ll get a familiar list. Classical liberals stand for private property. They stand for free markets and limited government. They believe in the rule of law, free trade, free speech, and religious toleration. Give or take an item or two, you’ll find something like this list in any textbook summary, or on the ‘about’ page of most classical liberal think tanks. And it’s a good list, as far as it goes. Each of those commitments has a long history in the tradition, and each has been defended by some of its best minds. The problem with the list is what’s not on it: democracy.” (09/30/26)
- Saying You Listen To AI Music Like Saying You Have An AI Girlfriend
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“It pisses me off whenever I see someone claiming that ‘AI music’ is about to make normal music obsolete. There is no such thing as ‘AI music’ or ‘AI art’. AI cannot make music. It cannot create the experience of an artist using skill and intention to transport something from inside them into an audience through vibrations in the air. It can only mimic the noises of that encounter. It’s like someone going ‘There’s no need to converse with anyone anymore because they’ve invented a machine which makes noises that sound like human speech!’ You’d want to tell them ‘Hey, that’s not the same thing mate. You’re talking about a completely different experience which in no way satisfies what people are looking for in a conversation.'” (09/30/26)
- The Great Sugar Racket, Part 1
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Angelo Monaco“By aggressively restricting imports and guaranteeing artificially high domestic prices, protectionist architecture installed by the state acts as a hidden tax on American families, quietly inflating the cost of everyday food products to subsidize politically connected producers. Far from stabilizing the agricultural sector, these interventions distort supply chains, destroy downstream manufacturing jobs, and insulate domestic producers from the competitive realities of the global market. It is a textbook institutional design failure: an artificial regime that enriches a favored few while forcing consumers and the broader economy to foot the structural bill.” (09/30/26)
https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/the-great-sugar-racket-part-1/
- Time to Pass the Free Speech Attorney’s Fee Legislation
Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley“A newly proposed bill in Congress could make a meaningful difference in the fight to restore free speech protections in higher education. The Restoring Civil Rights Attorney’s Fees Act of 2026 would address a practical problem for civil rights and free speech groups suing public universities for the denial of free speech. When universities lose at the preliminary injunction stage, advocates cannot recoup costs and fees. The bill would allow that recovery and, as a result, level the playing field with universities, which can tap public funds to litigate these cases. We have discussed many cases where universities spend millions in public funds to support anti-free speech policies and actions. A relatively small group of public interest groups have waged these battles with a collection of individual attorneys.” (09/30/26)
- How the Fed Distorts Corporate Profits
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Bryan Cutsinger“By looking at the money that the Fed sends to the US Treasury each year, this explainer demonstrates how much these funds distort the perceived success or failure of American businesses.” (09/30/26)
https://aier.org/article/how-the-fed-distortscorporate-profits/
- The Horrible Pete Hegseth
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison“I took it for granted that he would do whatever Trump wanted, no matter how outrageous or illegal it might be, and he has proved to be even more horrible than I expected.” (09/30/26)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/the-horrible-pete-hegseth
- The Ballot Box as a Check on War
Source: Common Dreams
by Timothy Hopper“On September 24, the Senate rejected a resolution directing the president to remove US forces from hostilities with Iran. In American politics, the end of military operations does not necessarily end a war’s political consequences. Some wars enter a decisive phase when the public judges their costs. Missiles may fall silent, troops return to their bases, and governments announce agreements or claim victory, but questions remain: Who decided? Why was war necessary? How transparent was the decision? What did it cost taxpayers, soldiers, allies, and America’s credibility? Who should answer for it? Elections do more than transfer power between parties. They are among the few institutional channels through which Americans can translate dissatisfaction with foreign policy into political action. A vote need not express partisan loyalty or simple opposition to a president. It can demand answers for decisions whose consequences outlast any administration.” (09/30/26)
- Lower Taxes Lead to Knowledge Gains
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Nima Sanandaji & Klas Tikkanen“Since 2017, the geography of knowledge-intensive employment in Europe has been closely studied by examining the share of adults in 34 European countries and 244 regions who are employed in highly knowledge-intensive technology jobs—in other terms, roles that rely heavily on expertise, technology, and research as well as advanced information processing and cognitive skills. The results are very clear: countries in Europe with lower taxes have a higher concentration of knowledge-intensive jobs and are also where new knowledge-intensive jobs are growing.” (09/30/26)
https://fee.org/articles/lower-taxes-lead-to-knowledge-gains/
- Meaning and the crisis of liberalism
Source: hypertext
by Ryan Avent“Rebuilding the liberal consensus requires us to go beyond the minimalist version of it.” (09/30/26)
https://hypertext.niskanencenter.org/p/meaning-and-the-crisis-of-liberalism
- Trump’s Populist Image Is Dead
Source: The Bulwark
by Mona Charen“Trump had the most zealous followers of anyone this side of Osama bin Laden, and in his first term, he did a certain amount of fan service. He cracked down on illegal (and legal) immigration, made gestures toward building a wall on the southern border, cut taxes, withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Climate Accords, and insulted and belittled everyone from Hillary Clinton to John Lewis. Was there profiteering as well? Sure. … But it was all pretty low-key compared with the sequel. In his second term, Trump has been a caricature of a plutocrat, gilding the Oval Office, grinding the White House East Wing into dust to build his garish ballroom, plastering his name on everything in his line of sight, issuing commemorative coins with his face on them, and vacuuming up wealth for himself and his family on a scale that has never been seen in American history.” (09/30/26)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-populist-image-is-dead-corrupt-greed-abuse-midterms
- The Ritalin Puzzle
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman“Looking into the controversy over Ritalin and related drugs for controlling ADHD I was struck by a puzzle. Currently, about twelve percent of children are diagnosed with ADHD; those so diagnosed are widely claimed to be unable to function in a classroom without medication. The number is twice what it was thirty years ago.” (09/30/26)
- Putting a million neets into work
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Madsen Pirie“Britain has a million young people doing nothing. Not studying, not training, not working. The ONS counted 981,000 NEETs in April to June 2026, and 393,000 of them were unemployed and looking for work. The number has been climbing for four years. Only one EU country, Romania, now has a higher NEET rate than ours. This is not just a statistic. It is a slow waste of talent, energy and ambition. … We might limit job-seeking benefits for under-25s to six months. After that, the benefit stops and a job starts. Every young claimant still out of work at six months would be offered a fixed-term public service job. … Those who refuse the place would not receive benefit. The deal is simple. Society will not leave you idle, and you will not be paid to stay idle.” (09/30/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/putting-a-million-neets-into-work
- Gun Control Advocates Really Don’t Think There Is Any Age at Which People Should Own Guns
Source: Town Hall
by John R Lott, Jr.“Gun control advocates have condemned the Justice Department’s decision to stop criminally enforcing the nearly 60-year-old 1968 federal ban on licensed dealers selling handguns to law-abiding 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds. They say it will cause the loss of life. ‘That’s because young Americans are disproportionately likely to commit gun violence,’ claims the GIFFORDS Center’s Executive Director Emma Brown. It is true that young people commit crime at relatively high rates, but they are also more likely to be victims of crime. A 20-year-old woman facing a stalker needs protection as much as a 21-year-old woman does. Young adults also face substantial risks of becoming victims: Reported rapes are 32 percent more likely for ages 18 to 20 than for people ages 21 to 23, and the younger group’s homicide rate is 7 percent higher.” (09/30/26)
- Filing Taxes Will Cost Americans $544 Billion This Year
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille“The process of paying taxes manages to add insult to injury by making it burdensome to comply as you cough up the money the government steals from you. The time lost keeping up on tax rules, filing paperwork, and calculating our own mugging is stolen from the rewarding areas of life, and the costs are diverted from productive activities. How much do we lose in satisfying government’s demands? A new report answers that question in painful detail, just in time for the October 15 extended filing deadline.” (09/30/26)
https://reason.com/2026/09/30/filing-taxes-will-cost-americans-544-billion-this-year/
- The Moynihan Report, 09/30/26
Source: The Moynihan Report
“Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Joby Warrick on how 1970s terrorists wrote the playbook for today’s jihadists.” (09/30/26)
https://www.themoynihan.report/p/carlos-the-jackal-the-first-celebrity
- Kibbe on Liberty, episode 406
Source: Free the People
“Parents Deserve Better from Their Schools | Guest: Paul Martino.” (09/30/26)
- The Kyle Anzalone Show, 09/30/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Joe Terwilliger: Tensions Flare in East Asia as North Korea Tests Hypersonic Missiles!” (09/30/26)
- Politico Playbook Audio Briefing, 10/01/26
Source: Politico
“Beshear’s red-state edge.” (10/01/26)
- Checks & Balances, 09/30/26
Source: Checks & Balances
“Is the Right Abandoning Its Own Principles?” (09/30/26)
https://chkbal.substack.com/p/is-the-right-abandoning-its-own-principles
- The Tom Woods Show, episode 2800
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“The Panicans Were Right About Iran, with Scott Horton.” (09/30/26)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2800-the-panicans-were-right-about-iran-with-scott-horton/
- TAC Right Now, 09/30/26
Source: The American Conservative
“White House Forges New AI Accord, w/ Yameen Huq.” (09/30/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/tac-right-now-white-house-forges-new-ai-accord-w-yameen-huq/
- The Science of Politics, 09/30/26
Source: Niskanen Center
“Vulnerable members of Congress localize.” (09/30/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/vulnerable-members-of-congress-localize/
- The Chris Hedges Report, 09/30/26
Source: The Chris Hedges Report
“Call It Evil: Understanding the Trump Era (w/ Susan Neiman).” (09/30/26)
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/call-it-evil-understanding-the-trump
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 09/30/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Senate Kills Bill for Report on Israeli Killing of US Citizens, Two US Strikes in Somalia, and More.” (09/30/26)
- Reason Interview: Axel Kaiser
Source: Reason
“Axel Kaiser discusses Latin America’s political realignment, the battle over culture, and why libertarians need to talk about virtue.” (09/30/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/09/30/axel-kaiser-explains-the-javier-milei-effect/
- Rising, 09/30/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave gives his radar on Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders getting slammed for her recent anti-welfare ad.” (09/30/26)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/6101141-rising-september-30-2026/
- The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 09/30/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump’s Fury at Canada Takes Darker Turn as GOPers Quietly Sound Alarm.” (09/30/26)
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 09/30/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“End Of An Era: US Finally (Sort-Of) Out Of Iraq.” (09/30/26)
- Reasonably Optimistic, 09/30/26
Source: Washington Post
“Is AI taking Gen Z’s jobs? It’s not that simple.” (09/30/26)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/impromptu/is-ai-taking-gen-zs-jobs-its-not-that-simple/
- Play The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 09/30/26
Source: The Dispatch
“The Scientific Republic | Interview: Tony Mills.” (09/30/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/the-scientific-republic-interview-tony-mills/
- Sal and Mark, episode 21
Source: Free Talk Live
“Sal the Agorist is back with Jack sitting in for Mark Edge. First up is Alan Orwick, co-founder of Quai Network, who talks about what the team has been working on, including Qi, a coin tied to energy that’s meant to be spent like cash.” (09/30/26)
- Nonzero, 09/29/26
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“Dario’s China Syndrome | Robert Wright & Paul Triolo.” (09/29/26)
- Capital Record, episode 325
Source: National Review
“Being Trained to Be an Entrepreneur… by the Government??” (09/30/26)
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 09/29/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“US Completes Withdrawal From Iraq Bases, Okinawa Town Protests US Typhon Deployment, and More.” (09/29/26)